Flying in British Columbia

[rafafouille]

Hello,
Vacations in BC: looking for a cheap & beautiful place to fly.

I am going to stay in BC (arrival at YVR) for 10 days vacation in may, and I would like to find a beautiful place (max 4h drive from Vancouver) to fly with my french PPL.
I have a small budget to do some dual flight and solo flights (if possible), and at least one scenery flight in a sea/floatplane :-)
(I have a small budget so I think it will be cheaper to fly in a C152 for example.)
The objective is to mix leisure and hour building, so a beautiful place with possibility to sleep there and with a good ambiance would be welcomed.
Thanks for your advices.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Pretty well anywhere! - you could try the island, for example, which gets you a ride on an Otter (albeit just as a passenger).

[9 lives]

"Cheap" and B.C. don't work well in the same sentence, so don't focus on that. From YVR, east to Pitt Meadows is your best choice land and water flying there. From Pitt Meadows, 15 minutes of flying in a 152, and you're in the mountains. Bear in mind, that you do not go far into the mountains at all, just to the edge - there are many more hazards in the mountains.

Delta is another choice, though I am less familiar with that airport. Langley is good for wheels, but no float flying there. There is an operator of floatplanes at "Fort Langley", but the runway is private, so no land flying there. Victoria is more pretty to fly wheels from.

The "lower mainland" from Vancouver east past Abbotsford has rather dense air traffic, as it is bounded by the mountains north, and the US border to the south. In two hours of flying, you've seem most of it. Victoria and Vancouver Island offer more space to fly, less congestion, and still great scenery.

Leave your schedule flexible, that area can have wonderful weather, or not so good, for days on end. When you have the good weather, use it for flying!

I suggest that you PM "Big Pistons Forever", he will have the best advice, and contacts.

[Left Coaster]

For your seaplane adventure, try Sea Air at YVR or Harbour Air, they have both sight seeing, charters etc. Harbour Air also has scheduled flights to Victoria, and Nanaimo from Vancouver Harbour and YVR (on the Fraser River, try the Flying Beaver restaurant for lunch or dinner as well!) The downtown base for Harbour Air is a good place to do a little plane spotting as well…have fun!

[rafafouille]

Thank you for your answers guys.
@ Step turn: Do you mean that there are cheaper places to fly in Canada/North west USA? If yes I'll take the advice :)

[9 lives]

Rafa, I'd suggest that popular travel destinations such as Vancouver are less likely to be whee one finds a deal on anything, as "location" costs are higher. There are other places in Canada where even more competitive aircraft rental prices would be found, though getting yourself there for a few days would not be worth it for the savings.

While on holiday in Iceland years ago, when I was told the rental cost for a 172, I just held my breath, and paid - it was not a "deal" location. I enjoyed every minute of the rental.

You will probably find the cost to rent in the BC lower mainland pleasing to what you may be used to in Europe.

[Avoiding Action]

Rafafouille,

I was in the area 15 years ago, also on holiday and also arriving in Vancouver. I don't know your exact situation, so I only mention this as something to research if you cannot get anything suitable close to Vancouver.

I drove to Seattle and rented a C152 from a school at Boeing Field. Seattle is about a 3 hour drive from Vancouver, so within your limits. The flight from Seattle to Victoria BC was 1 hour. I also visited Courtenay, Comox, Nanaimo and Tofino (on the island) and Pemberton and Kamloops (in the Coast Mountains). In all, I flew about 14 hours in 12 flights, experienced two international flights, and some scenery that I will not find anywhere else - a photograph I took of a magnificent sunset near Texada Island still hangs in my office.

At that time, rental in the US was much less expensive that in BC and the US to Canada procedures 'enriched' my flying experience. I still remember the nervousness I felt arriving back at Boeing Field from an international destination watching the customs and immigration officals marching out to the Cessna!

The world has changed since then. Licencing in the US is treated differently, relative costs may have changed and this might be too difficult to arrange at short notice - I'm sure other ppruners with up-to-date knowledge will comment. But, it is worth looking at.

Hope you get to fly over there and that you enjoy it as much as I did!

AA

[Flying Lawyer]

Vacation in BC: looking for a cheap & beautiful place to fly.
Cheap?
Less expensive than Europe, but not cheap.

Beautiful place to fly?
One of the most beautiful places in the world.

I did some flying at Abbotsford while on a business trip to Vancouver in August 2013.
Stunning scenery in the local area (Fraser Valley, the surrounding mountains) and a little further afield.


Cheam range
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/Cheam%20Range%20crop_zps6jrlaqtc.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/Cheam%20Range%20near%20Welch%20Peak%20800_zpskm5p46x0.jpg

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/117929172.jpg


http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/117947551.jpg
Harrison Lake

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/117904299.jpg
Harrison Mills, near Chilliwack
(Rowena's Inn is a popular destination. Landing strip perpendicular to N side of bridge/adjacent to golf course.)


at least one scenery flight in a sea/floatplane
A must do, even as a passenger. :ok:

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/117930285.jpg
Vancouver


http://static.panoramio.com/photos/1920x1280/117947871.jpg
Vancouver Harbour
(Sea-plane terminal in centre of pic - 3 parallel jetties.)


http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/117930288.jpg
Landing in Victoria Harbour, Vancouver Island



I fully endorse Left Coaster's recommendation of the 'Flying Beaver' restaurant/bar near Vancouver airport.
Good food, not expensive and great atmosphere.
And an opportunity to watch sea-planes taking off and landing on the Fraser River.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Vancouver Harbour
(Sea-plane terminal in centre of pic - 3 parallel jetties.)
With the world's tallest control tower. (It's on the roof of a skyscraper, and looks down on the circut.)

[Flying Lawyer]

The control tower overlooks the terminal and 'runway' but looking down on the circuit might be overstating it a little.
The building (Granville Square) is only 142 m/466 ft agl.


http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/108641723.jpg
Part of the terminal

[Gertrude the Wombat]

only 142 m/466 ft agl
That's nosebleed territory for many of the local floatplane pilots :)

[Flying Lawyer]

Not in the Vancouver Harbour Zone. :)

[9 lives]

hat's nosebleed territory for many of the local floatplane pilots

Nah...

This is floatplane nosebleed territory...

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b617/jim246/IMG_4229_zps337e8d60.jpg

Higher than 2500 feet elevation.

My host and I were into Fire Lake, at more than 3500 feet that day too, you sure see a performance decrease with altitude on the water!

[9 lives]

But yes, getting close to the water is normal!

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b617/jim246/IMG_1044_zps2a896ed1.jpg

The "right coast" up close and personal....

[Gertrude the Wombat]

But yes, getting close to the water is normal!
Yeah, that's what I had in mind, I've seen entire flights conducted at 100' because the cloud base was at 110'.

[evansb]

Regarding costs, 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) is charged in Canada.

British Columbia has an additional 7% Provincial Sales Tax (PST). Commercial accommodation tax rate is 8% plus up to 2% municipal and regional district tax. Metro Vancouver levies an additional 17 cents per litre gasoline tax.

Washington State sales tax is 6.5%. Car rental in Washington is taxed at 8.9%. Renting a car in Seattle is taxed at 18.6%.

Alaska, Oregon and Montana do not have a State Sales Tax.

California State Sales Tax is 7.5%

The Province of Alberta does not have a Provincial Sales Tax (PST).


Regarding Air Traffic Control, bilingual (French) service is only available in Quebec.

[RatherBeFlying]

Don't forget to factor the exchange rate when price comparing.

Cross border flights now require preregistration with eAPIS.

We glider pilots have an eAPIS bypass called a trailer:p

I have heard of one cross border retrieve some decades ago where the only customs involvement was at the border.